No-one said it would be easy, but with confirmation from the Department for Education that councils are being left to decide how to distribute £311m of cuts to the overall area-based grant, tough decisions lie ahead.
While none of the funding streams that fall under the grant are ringfenced, the services they finance help local authorities fulfil their duties to children and young people, ranging from offering pupils free transport to promoting the health and wellbeing of every child and young person.
But are some services more at risk than others? Many of the funds provided under the area-based grant can go towards delivering the statutory obligations (see box). For example, designated teacher funding is intended to support local authorities in their duty to ensure schools have a designated teacher for all looked-after children.
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